Parent and Child
by muse-in-waiting
Summary: The siblings' visit to their old house was more eventful than it first appeared. -A companion piece to 'The Darkness of a Lantern'
1. Mother and Daughter

Gretel didn't know where she was. The waterfall she had been left at was some a distance away from any path. The troll had done a good job tending to her wounds, oddly enough, but she wasn't fit enough to take on a witch.

Which would be soon if she didn't find shelter. Red streaked across the sky as the sun disappeared behind the trees. The shadows were already drawing longer. While the siblings were immune to any magic thrown at them, Gretel still felt the paranoia that had possessed the dark since they had been children- since the event they never spoke of happened. She almost wished she had someone else here, just to have a reason to be strong.

Every rustle made her nervous. Her imagination was already playing tricks on her- a witch, the troll, even those men were out there waiting to jump out at any moment. If she didn't know any better, she'd say their lights were in front of her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden light. She readied for a fight before discovering that she was still alone. The small orb glistened in front of her eyes. Her head must've been hit harder than she thought. The huntress tried ignoring it and walked passed it. But there it was again, and again! No matter which direction she went in this woods the orbs always had a habit of showing up.

"Stop following me!" Gretel cursed herself as soon as she snapped. It was just in her head after all. Yelling was only going to draw trouble.

..Make that more trouble.

In front of her stretched an entire trail of those orbs. Seeing as they'd probably follow her anyway, the huntress went where they wanted. She was ready for anything: a witch, trickery, another trap. Somehow, a house never came to her mind.

It didn't look like it had been lived in for some time. Not even the lights went inside. Everything creaked, even the floor. Gretel walked soundlessly. It wasn't exactly a big building. The largest room was for the kitchen and gathering area. Even through the dust it was obvious what it all had once been.

It all looked familiar though. She told herself it was nothing. Many building had this layout; some the siblings had stayed at had even had the same cots set up for the adults to care for the fire. There was only one set up, so the mother probably stayed downstairs at night… except how did she know _that?_

She had almost convinced herself it was a simple guess when she knew another thing she couldn't have. Her body moved on its own to the spot behind the wall. There was the ring, the rusted remains of a secret hidden for decades. The trapdoor opened almost willingly.

Gretel knew she should've stopped there, her every instinct telling her it wasn't safe. But there was something natural and familiar that the stale musk of time couldn't hide. One foot followed the other without fail, even as the wood turned to rock.

The glow that came from some was the only reason she could see the cave in front of her. She'd seen enough witch lairs to recognize this one, as disused as it was. Wax from candles left lit dripped down to a thick book.

Gretel gingerly touched the lever cover. From look of the pages, it was far more ancient than the stones around it. It almost looked like one of those family bibles. The fancy was enough to have her open to some random page. Even a rookie would have known better, though the blinding light was new.

Her mind tried to find some sort understanding in the overload of senses. As her body slowly shut down, she could have sworn she heard a voice. "This is your inheritance. It can never replace what was taken, but perhaps you can keep others from suffering as you have."

Gretel's eyes opened what seemed like a second and what felt like hours later. The voice had seemed so familiar yet so distant. Could it have been a dream? The sounds upstairs seemed to say otherwise. She and Hansel may have promised not to talk about their past but she couldn't hold her tongue any longer. It was time to get some answers.


	2. Father and Son

"HANSEL!"

Hansel instinctively gripped the knife in his side. He was barely aware of the floor rising up to meet him as the witch tossed him down to the witch lair below. A coldness was beginning to flow through him, starting at his limbs and making its way to the pool of warmth around the wound.

Somewhere in his fleeting consciousness, he knew he was dying. They always knew that this was something that could happen. Hell, it almost did at their first encounter. Somehow, even after all his close calls, he wasn't ready.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. The witches still had the children, were about to start some witchy form of the end of the world, and worst of all, they had his sister. Gretel…damnit. Despite everything, it was failing her that hurt the most. Her scream still echoed in his ears. The look on her face stared at him as his eyes fluttered shut.

Then, it was gone.

All of it: the pain, the coldness, even the last remains of his sister's memory- all gone. And in their place was..nothing.

Almost like a weight was lifted off them, his eyes flew open. Or at least he thought they did. Everything around him was black. Somehow, he was on his feet and shuffling forward. There was something ahead, something he had to get to.

A soft light appeared in the furthest point of his vision. It was warm, and friendly, almost welcoming. It was wonderful, uplifting, prefect. The feelings were interrupted by a strange but familiar pressure on his shoulder.

"No, not again." That voice was almost too lifelike, too familiar to be real.

The shadow moved in front of him, blocking the light. Hansel brought his eyes up to glare at the figure. What gave them the right to keep him from going reaching the warmth that was waiting for him?

"It's not your time yet." The voice answered right on cue, as though they were inside his head. "You still have things to do, remember?"

It all came back as suddenly as it left. His head pounded as the memories flooded back all at once. The town, the witches, the kids, the house-"Gretel!"

"Yes, Gretel. Your sister needs you." The man, now more recognizably human as the light behind him began to fade, rose a hand to point back into the black void.

Hansel didn't waste any time running back in that direction. There would be time to rest later. Now, now he was needed more than ever. He turned back once to send his gratitude but his blood ran cold at the sight.

The man behind him was in simple outdoors clothing, holding a lantern that was almost as bright as his smile. Not a day's difference since that night in the woods. "Father?"

"Set their asses on fire for me." Just like their last memory, Hansel watched his father blow out the lantern and leave him alone in dark. Only this time, he didn't feel abandoned.

Though, it might've been because of the coldness that came back to his limbs. His head spun and as much as he tried to fight it, he began to lose consciousness again. Falling was the last thing he felt before his eyes shut.

Then there was only light.


End file.
